The farm now has its first official denizens! Over the weekend one buckskin horse, named Jack, and one jackass, named Jake, came home to Hickory Hurst. Aside from slightly boring and juxtaposed names (shouldn't the ass be named jack?) both animals seem to be doing well. The good news is that Jake is a guard donkey: he's been trained to watch and protect sheep and other sundry livestock. Perfect as a non-lethal defense against the coyotes who roam the property. Unless they shop at Acme.
Also, wood cutting carries on apace. I'm in the process of clearing a stretch of overgrown stone wall, a remnant of the farm's original boundary markers. It's just my luck, however, that CT has an ideal climate for the proliferation of both briar bushes AND poison ivy. Sweet. Yet after getting suited up in my spiffy and fashionable new Carhartt overalls, I feel nigh-on invulnerable. And my first rash of poison ivy has gone down wonderfully. Now, if I manage to avoid taking my leg off with the chainsaw, I'll be golden...
